Murray fights back to win with help of an underarm serve
4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
It is never straightforward with Andy Murray, but four sets, an underarm serve and a solid comeback later, he was through to the second round of Wimbledon.
Murray recovered from going one set down to seal what eventually turned into an impressive 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Afterwards, he batted away suggestions he was ready for a deep run at Wimbledon, but conceded: “I’m in a better place than I was last year when I played here.”
He hit 35 winners to 14 unforced errors, a strong statistic by any standards. But Australia’s James Duckworth replied with 47 winners to put Murray through the wringer during the early stages, and made this test more complicated than it looked on paper.
The latter stages of Murray’s career have been defined by two hip surgeries and his defiant steeliness to make a comeback to the top level. But Duckworth’s own medical notes surpass the 35-year-old’s. He is still only 30, but Duckworth has had nine surgeries in the last 10 years.
The latest was hip surgery after the Australian Open earlier this year, which kept him off the tour for nearly four months. He has gone nought for seven since returning from his injury break so, as far as form goes, he had none to speak of. It makes Murray losing his grip on the first set all the more baffling.
Murray won seven of his nine matches on grass this past month, including reaching the final in Stuttgart and beating Stefanos Tsitsipas. An abdominal injury has troubled
him over the last two weeks, but Murray confirmed after his match that a scan over the weekend had given him the all clear ahead of Wimbledon starting.
It still took him some time to find his groove, though. Murray served poorly in the first set, making less than half of his first serves, and struggled to return effectively.
Duckworth used his variety to thwart Murray’s rhythm too, frustrating him with light-touch drop shots and he even threw in the odd lob, playing his opponent at his own game. The fight Murray is known for, in particular in these parts, came through eventually and he went toe-to-toe with a competitive opponent. Aided by loud grunting and some animated reactions – which had some members of the crowd in stitches – he grew into the match. The most memorable point came in the form of a rare Murray underarm serve in the third set.
Although he has previously risked it at Indian Wells, this was his first at Wimbledon.
When he saw Duckworth camped behind the baseline, he said he could not resist: “He changed his return position, that’s why I did it. If they stand four or five metres behind the baseline, then why would you not do that to try to bring them forward if they’re not comfortable returning there? Tactically, it’s a smart play.”
Only, it wasn’t the greatest of deliveries. In fact, the serve itself was a shocker. The high bounce gave Duckworth more than enough time to get his racket to it and it left the very real prospect of Murray – by now in the ascendant in the match – ending up with egg on his face. But then came a classic Murray sequence: a lob and then a smashing away of Duckworth’s attempt to stay in the point.
The Centre Court spectators were caught between laughing and cheering for a moment, before they all got to their feet to celebrate the two-time champion’s audacity. It helped consolidate the momentum swing in Murray’s favour as he went on to win the third set.
Duckworth was rattled and bemoaned the decision to leave the roof open, complaining about the poor light.
“If he [Murray] asked, they’d have come on,” he said to the umpire. The roof closed before the fourth set began, but it was no use to Duckworth with Murray now in the zone.
Two double faults from Duckworth were the difference late in the fourth set, and gave Murray the opportunity to break and then serve for a place in the second round, which he duly took – finally letting out a huge roar at the conclusion of yet another night spent under the lights at Centre Court.
He faces big-serving 24th-seed John Isner in the next round, who he has beaten in all eight of their previous ties. But he was not taking anything for granted: “I’ll need to play really well and certainly return a bit better than I did tonight if I want to get through that.”